Afghan troop proposal may cost $2 bln more - U.S. aide | Reuters: "A proposal to quickly build up Afghanistan's military, key to a planned drawdown of U.S. troops, would cost the United States as much as an extra $2 billion a year, a U.S. congressional aide said.
Washington and its allies are struggling to balance mounting budget pressures at home with the need to stand up a capable local fighting force in Afghanistan that can take over more security responsibilities as foreign forces withdraw.
The plan, under consideration by Afghan, U.S. and NATO officials, would boost troop levels in the Afghan national forces to 378,000 by October 2012 -- from this year's goal of 305,000 -- a U.S. Senate aide who works on Afghanistan issues told Reuters in an interview this week.
The aide spoke on condition of anonymity.
The proposed increase is 17 percent more than the $11.6 billion requested by President Barack Obama for Afghan security training in the fiscal 2011 budget, but it is not likely to encounter big opposition in Congress."
